


The first mistake

by Justafewthingstosay



Series: Crew time Babey!!! [4]
Category: The Phoenix Crew - Fandom
Genre: Because otherwise it doesn't work, Clarence and Kai are best friends!, Kai and Clarence are Cousins, Viking AU, You can never ever take this from me, death mention, they are besties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29059902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justafewthingstosay/pseuds/Justafewthingstosay
Summary: Clarence's parents are dead.Now he is in line to lead.But is he going to?
Relationships: Clarence Bateman (The Phoenix) & Kailani Amara (The Phoenix)
Series: Crew time Babey!!! [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124537





	The first mistake

The day of his mother's death was a gloomy one. His father had died a few years before and since then his mother had been tired, so Clarence did not mind sending her out. The flaming arrow hit its mark perfectly and he watched his mother and everything that was left of her burn as the boat drifted further and further away. 

The rock felt unsteady beneath his feet, more slippery and for a moment he worried he might fall until a hand reached out and tightened around his. 

He didn't need to look to know it was Kai. Her fingers had the tendency to run horribly cold, so it was always easy to recognize her. 

"She will feast with your father now, they will sit next to Odin in the hall of the slain and tell stories of us so wonderful that it will make Freya cry," she whispered, before squeezing his hand again. 

They waited until the boat disappeared, before Kai carefully pulled him away. There was no reason to stay here and cry, his parents died honourable deaths. He should be happy.

The red hair of his best friend moved in the wind as he thought on the death of her parents and sister. The Valkyries would not have come for her father, maybe for her sister, but Kai was not the type of person to get her hopes up. 

On their way to the longhouse, Clarence pulled himself together. He was going to be Jarl now, a thought he never really let into his head until now. But without even thinking long about it, he knew he didn't want to be. He never wanted to be Jarl, he had just hoped that his parents would never die. A stupid thought, but still one that stopped him from thinking about it. 

"Are you ready to celebrate her life?" Kai asked, managing to pull him out of his thoughts with only that sentence and he nodded before considering the other option. 

"Good, we have a lot to celebrate, after all, you're becoming the Jarl. That's definitely something to get used to," she tried to joke, realising the joke landed flat. "Come on, the others will want to see you." 

The longhouse was filled with their clan, Cook had prepared a feast worthy of the gods and Clarence thanked them as he passed. 

He doesn't remember much after he drank his first horn of mead, Joshua had a tendency to brew stuff that could erase all memories if desired and Clarence wanted that right now. 

There was one part of the night, though, that he still remembers vividly. 

Kai had brought him to the stage, taking his arm by his wrist and she began to speak. 

"Ravens! I am happy to tell you that our new leader is a true Drengr. As sharp as an axe and just as deadly. Someone that has lead hundreds of raids to success. Ravens, long love-" 

"-our Jarlskona Kailani!" Clarence yelled, pulling up her arm as the crowd clapped and yelled in excitement. 

Clarence didn't look to his side, he didn't look at her. He would fix that issue tomorrow, when his head wasn't spinning and the people weren't screaming. 

And maybe when Kai stopped looking at him like she wanted to murder him, maybe then.

* * *

  
  
  


Clarence woke up in his bed in the longhouse, snuggled up under his big bear fur, that he only put on the bed in the colder months. His eyes stung the second he opened them and he noticed that he had maybe, just maybe, gone a little overboard with the alcohol last night. 

He had his reasons to do so, but the day was still going to be hard. Especially when he heard a sound that was all too familiar. A slow method sound, of metal on wood. 

Trying to sit up seemed to be a struggle, so just robbed his way to the side of the bed and was greeted by Kai's profile. She was holding a piece of wood and a knife, apparently widdling something while waiting for him to wake up. 

Her wolf, Alwilda, was lying next to her, napping. 

"So you finally decided to wake up?" She asked without looking at him. She was mad, he could tell. Her accent was stronger when she was angry, his family had taken her in when she was only 10 winters old, but the accent had been more persistent than their efforts to change it. She was a raven, no matter how much they had tried to turn her into a bear. 

"Yeah, my brain feels it's in Hel, while my body is still up here," he groaned out, his mouth close to his pillow. “What about you? You were drinking horn after horn last night. Isn’t your head killing you?”

Kai just shook her head. “I was never plagued by the ghosts of last nights mead. I have been plagued with very different ghosts though. Ghosts that you called into existence.”   
  


Clarence groaned, “Kai. I’m sorry. I-” 

“You didn’t want to take responsibility, I understand. But why couldn’t you have just told me? I’m not ready to be Jarlskona, I never thought I’d have to be.”

“You were my only chance. Your father was my fathers’ brother. You technically are second in line at the moment. I know that it’s a lot. I just-” he looked at her, his cousin, but a sister in heart. “I couldn’t do it, I can’t. I’m not good at leading. A raven should claim the throne again, the bears have had it too long.” 

She looked away from him, her hand deep in the fur of her wolf. He knew that she would never deny him a request, which made him feel even worse about the entire thing. 

“I’ll do it, under one condition,” she whispered, a calm seeping into her voice that he only knew from her on the battlefield. 

“Anything.”

“You become my Jomsviking, my second in command and also no diplomatic marriages. I won’t marry anyone I don’t love.” 

Clarence nodded. “You have a deal. And I’ll even do you one better, we are bringing out the old flag. The ravens are sitting on the throne again, it only makes sense.”

That made her turn around and smile. She hadn’t seen that flag since her mother died and her father was killed. The Ravens had lost their seat on the throne then. 

Clarence snuggled back under his furs, attempting to get comfortable again. “If that was all, I would like to get back to sleep.” 

She just snorted before standing up, walking around and lying down on the other side of the bed. Alwilda jumped onto the foot of the bed, just to immediately lay back down to sleep.    
  
“I didn’t sleep a single bit last night, so I’m going to get some rest here.” 

“Oh, so now that you’re Jarlskona, you just invite yourself into my bed?” 

“Could you just shut up and cuddle me? I’m cold.” 


End file.
